Oil Kings return from Memorial Cup

Edmonton Oil Kings Jordan Peddle, centre, holds an autographed souvenir with teammates Laurent Brossoit, left to right, Michael St. Croix, and Travis Ewanyk after arriving back in Edmonton, Alberta on Friday, May 25, 2012. The Oil Kings lost the Memorial Cup to the Shawinigan Cataractes in Montreal, Quebec the day before. AMBER BRACKEN/EDMONTON SUN

Related Stories

Topics

A week ago they were champions of the Western Hockey League.
Now they’ve come back home after an unfortunate adventure on a national stage.
So, where does that leave the Edmonton Oil Kings?
Players and coaches now always drop the “short-term memory” phrase. As in, ‘you’ve got to have one,’ after a bad game, bad stretch.
Easier said than done, of course. Not to mention that the tournament they just got knocked out of is called the Memorial Cup.
Hard to forget that.
“It goes from a pretty big high to a pretty big low,” said Travis Ewanyk, a third-year Oil King. “It was something to remember. Pretty big disappointment, but hopefully we can get back there. We went in there with best mindset … It just didn’t go our way.”
Not only was it a coast-to-coast spotlight, it was also the first sustained look for many in the city that they play in. And that means the many that saw the Oil Kings slip in the slop in Shawinigan are left with that impression rather than the end-to-end, shake’n’bake WHL finals with the Portland Winterhawks.
“We just couldn’t find that energy we had for the Portland series,” said head coach Derek Laxdal after their charter plane landed in Edmonton on Friday.
“It’s a different intensity when you go to the Memorial. It’s such a lot of work in a short period of time. You could take two weeks to prepare for the Memorial Cup.”
Any variant of the word ‘inexperience’ disappeared from vocabulary around the team during the Dub playoffs. It showed up in capital letters in Shawinigan.
“It’s tough,” said Stephane Legault, another third-year King. “We didn’t play our best hockey and those other teams are really good, as well. Things like this can happen in a short tournament and it’s disappointing.”
“We set out to win our league and we won the WHL,” said 17-year-old rookie Mitch Moroz. “That was the first goal. Ultimately the Memorial Cup was just the cherry on top, but we really would’ve liked to have done a better job. But we still feel like we set out to do want we wanted to initially, and we can’t be too disappointed.”
BYE-BYE BEARDIES:
Season’s over. So are the playoff beards.
“A whole bunch of us decided we’d knock ’em down once we got back to the hotel,” said Ryan Dech, who sported the blackest of beards. “It’s been a long two months of beard.”
“Me and Mitch did it in our room,” said Legault of the shave-a-thon. “It took a while, it was pretty thick. It was pretty hairy and gross.”
“It’s a lot different,” said Moroz, sporting a shave and a haircut. “My face is itchy now.”
Having played his last game as a junior, Rhett Rachinski gets to call his own shots.
He’s made his WHL farewell party a season-long bearded affair.
“I haven’t gotten around to the beard yet. It’s been less than 24 hours and … we’ve had a long and complex relationship throughout the year.
“It’s going to be hard to let go.”
graduating class:
While Rachinski may have a future writing comedy sketches, the Edmontonian hasn’t decided what’s next. Major junior hockey grads have the choices to be made between pursuing hockey and getting school paid for.
“Immediate plans would be to enjoy the company of the guys while they are still in town, then probably catch up with a little bit of off-ice activities.
“At some point … But I’m going to take my time with that. I’m not going to rush into any decisions right away.”
Same up for Saskatchewan native Jordan Peddle. At least one school may be calling. But he’s still letting it sink in. (And still hasn’t shaved yet, either.)
“It would’ve been nice to win a couple more games, or go a little bit further, but a great experience overall.
“I don’t know if it has fully hit me yet, to be honest. I haven’t really thought too much about it. I’m sure in a couple of days it will hit that I don’t have any more junior hockey games to play.”
COMBINING:
As if Griffin Reinhart didn’t get enough ice time in the last month, he only has the weekend to rest before he and Mitch Moroz head to the HNL draft combine.
“I don’t know much (about them),” said Reinhart. “All I’ve heard is that the bike test is pretty hard — and all the weird questions you get in interviews.”